SXSW 2014: 'Penny Dreadful' Review

SXSW TV Review: 'Penny Dreadful' Scares Its Audience Right Out of the Theater

Josh Hartnett, Harry Treadaway, Eva Green and Timothy Dalton in 'Penny Dreadful'

Josh Hartnett and director Juan Antonio Bayona couldn't have been more welcoming when they introduced "Penny Dreadful," their new horror program backed by Showtime at SXSW. Bayona, the director of the series' first two episodes, joked about his height relative to the quite tall Hartnett as the happy duo welcomed a full house to the series' world premiere. The episode -- which still had some color correction and musical work left to be done -- was quite chilling. Enough so, even, that fans bolted from the theater the moment the credits rolled, undoubtedly terrified by the eerie antics of Hartnett and Co. on screen.

Josh Hartnett sits with Juan Antonio Bayona in the Vimeo Theater

Okay. Maybe they were just in a hurry to get to their next screening in a packed SXSW lineup, but half the theater emptied despite pleas from the moderator for people to stick around. It's hard to blame them. As charming and laid back as Hartnett and Bayona were during the session, I, too, was eager to see what else the festival had to offer in the hopes it would be as riveting as "Penny Dreadful," the tastefully terror-inducing series from Academy Award-nominated writer John Logan and Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. Let's just assume that was everyone's thought process.

Shown as an early cut without completed color correction or musical cues, the first episode of the eight-episode season was nevertheless haunting. Shadows dominated the frame with such consistency a character even commented on it, making a joke about how England had yet to make the strides of America in the department of indoor electricity. Hartnett seemed worried about the presentation, though, telling fans afterward this wasn't a finished problem and it looked like a really dark cut (he later told Indiewire some of the blacks are intentional, but others will be given more definition to fill out the frame).

Hartnett's character, Ethan Chandler, is a sharpshooter of the highest degree. He's sought out by Vanessa Ives, a mysterious observer with a commanding stare who we later learn is clairvoyant.

With rave reviews for the otherwise dismissed "300: Rise of an Empire," it appears Eva Green is staking her claim as an actress to watch after breaking out in "Casino Royale." Her eyes hold an incredible intensity in "Penny Dreadful," while her movements are deliberate and smooth. She has an air of knowing, grace, but fear threatens to overwhelm her armored exterior at any moment. It's too early to praise the role all that highly, but she's certainly the one to watch in "Penny Dreadful."

Not that the rest of the cast fails to hold their own -- far from it. Hartnett is only given a few moments of personal drama, but he makes the most of them and discussed how his character's development was part of the longer narrative arc. "The only reason to come back [to TV] for this was that Showtime was going to allow and create space for the creative people like Sam [Mendes], Juan [Antonio Bayona] and John [Logan] to create something special, something unique, and allow me to flesh out a character over a long period of time," Hartnett said. "That’s the fun of this. I don’t really know where Ethan is going to go. If people stick around and tune in, this could go on for a very long time."

Timothy Dalton steals a few scenes as Sir Malcolm, a man on the hunt for his lost daughter and the catalyst for action in "Penny Dreadful." Malcolm is a mysterious and incredibly determined man with an unidentified source of wealth that he uses to employ Vanessa and Ethan to help in his quest. The two experienced hunters are much more earnest than Ethan, most likely because they've seen the horrors for years which he's only just now admitting exist.

The set up should allow for brief moments of levity when Ethan's sarcastic or direct demeanor takes over. In the pilot, the trio takes on a series of odd creatures -- unbeknownst to Ethan, who accepted the job without terms -- before killing a vampire in its lair. The distinctive set design grabs attention, as do the ever-present shadows hiding parts of every frame, but the composition is shattered when Ethan exclaims, "Who the fuck are you people?"

We're all wondering the same thing. Most pilots make extra strides to try to fit in extra amounts of exposition, hoping the audience will latch onto something they can later develop. Not in today's world where pilots aren't pilots -- they're just first episodes. Hartnett had just wrapped the eight-episode season on Friday before flying in Sunday to attend the screening. This series is in the books and will sink or swim as the vision of Logan, Mendes and Bayona, who was given credit at the screening for establishing the series' look. We don't need all of our questions answered now. We've got seven hours left to find out what goes bump in the night in "Penny Dreadful."

SXSW TV Review – Showtime’s Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful is Showtime’s newest original series.  Episode 1 had its world premiere at SXSW for a crowd at the Vimeo Theater.  Having seen the show’s trailer, I was intrigued enough to take a break from the many films I had seen for an hour with Penny Dreadful.

The show is from the mind of John Logan (Skyfall, Gladiator) who wrote all eight episodes of Season 1.  He draws from the classic tales of Frankenstein, Dracula, and others to construct a new Victorian world filled with horror and mystery.  J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage) directed the first episode.  The cast includes Eva Green (Vanessa Ives), Timothy Dalton (Sir Malcolm), Josh Hartnett (Ethan Chandler), and Harry Treadaway (Victor *last name is a potential spoiler*).  Other cast members are not seen in the first episode.

The episode starts out with a mother rousing from bed to take her morning constitutional, but something is waiting for her there.  We do not see what it is, but it is enough to get a jump out of you only a few minutes into the episode.  We then meet our main character, Vanessa Ives, furiously praying to God with tears in her eyes.  A spider appears on the cross and makes its way to her hand.  This is clearly not just a random spider, but may be an omen of sorts for the task at hand.

We meet Ethan Chandler, an American, travelling with a Wild West show to entertain the people of London in 1891.  He is talented gunman and Vanessa can see that through his costume, wig, and fake mustache, even though he has a real one underneath.  She recruits him for some “night work” and their relationship begins.

Sir Malcolm joins Vanessa and Ethan that night.  They enter an opium house, but go much further.  It is in the depths of this place that we meet face to face with the first supernatural characters of Penny Dreadful.  Pale, agile, and not easily killed, three men try to take down our trio of characters.  The first creepy moment is when a man stands back up by essentially rolling up from the back, bones cracking as he does this. The scene is even more dark and disturbing as the trio move into the lair beyond these men.  Lots of blood, body parts, and bodies greet them.  Vanessa examines a detached head to discover the fang marks of a vampire.  Only then do the viewers know what this scene really is.

The trio meets a fully-fledged vampire, pale and alien-like with red eyes.  These are not the vampires from Twilight or Interview with the Vampire, but more like what is seen in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Sir Malcolm is able to dispatch this vampire, but we learn that this is not the one he is looking for. His daughter was taken, or perhaps turned, by vampires, and he is determined to find her with Vanessa’s help.

We then meet Victor who has a special interest in cadavers, but is more invested in research.  This vampire body peaks his interest and he does not shy away from its horror or uniqueness. At the end of the episode, we learn how invested Victor is in the dead.

The episode as a whole is satisfyingly dark, mysterious, bloody, and horrific.  There is an air of mystery that is only increased at the end of the Episode 1.  We do not really know who Vanessa Ives is or her connection to what might lie beyond our world or in the shadows.  From the ending scene, it teases that it may involve Satan.  I hope her story is teased throughout the first season.

The production design and value of this series is so far top notch.  Shot in Dublin, Ireland, the streets easily recall the Victorian London setting.  Makeup is key in creating creatures that we have read about in classic stories, and thus far, they have done a wonderful, realistic job.

Before the screening, director J.A. Bayona pointed out that the episode was not finished.  Not all of the music is incorporated yet and I am sure some tweaking of issues may still occur.  Unfortunately, the transfer of the episode was too dark, making it hard to see the detail of the destruction of bodies and blood of the vampires’ lair.  Josh Hartnett admitted to it being too dark during the Q and A afterwards.  Hopefully, issues like this will be fixed before the series premieres.

The SXSW screening of Episode 1 of Penny Dreadful shows a very promising start to the series.  A premium channel like Showtime also gives the show the ability to take the extra step in vulgarity and gore, but thus far all is tastefully done. The historical context of Victorian London mixed in with supernatural elements, classic tales like Dracula, and real-life events makes for a series that will undoubtedly have twists and turns and grotesque imagery that will pull in fans.  This series will be on my watch list come May 11, 2014.

SXSW 2014: PENNY DREADFUL 1.01 Pilot Review

Get a look at Showtime’s upcoming series featuring legendary literary beings like Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and Dracula.
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR "Penny Dreadful!" You may want to skip this review if you don't want to know anything going into the series.

Showtime has gathered up a superb group of actors, directors, and writers to bring to life a new series mixing all kinds of iconic old-school horror creatures in “Penny Dreadful.” The series' name may strike you as odd, but it refers back to old British publications featuring garish horror serial stories that would only cost – you guessed it! – one penny. While this phrase may have originally represented a form of cheap entertainment, but “Penny Dreadful” is no such thing.

Those looking for the dark, the twisted and the macabre, look no further than the pilot to "Penny Dreadful", which features some of the most grizzly sights and sequences I've ever seen on television. This London-based series opens in the late 1800s with a young mother getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night- her only light being the oil lamp in hand- and, while she's got her pants down and goodies exposed, some thing bursts through the wall and kidnaps her. We later find out that there have been other, similar attacks to this one and they usually end in a sea of red paint and intestines. Therein lies the beauty of having this show on a premium channel; you can get as violent or as profane as the story requires, and, as Hartnett simply put it, “You can have the characters say f**k.” 

The bulk of "Penny Dreadful" focuses on three investigators trying to prevent the violent and the profane. First is Vanessa (Eva Green), whom we don't learn much about other than she's got some sort of precognitive/fortune-telling abilities, she also knows how to psych out a vampire with just a look, and prays often (and intensely) to keep a horde of spiders at bay. Josh Hartnett plays Ethan Chandler, the lone American of the cast and a sharp-shooter trying to keep memories of his past buried. After being impressed with his iron nerves and shooting skills, Vanessa invites Ethan to join her and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) in their investigations.

They don't really tell Ethan what that will entail, though. It's smart, as he probably wouldn't have believed them, but it's also kind of a dick move since they quickly end up beneath an opium den fighting tons of vampires, wading through three-inch pools of blood with piles of mangled corpses stacked from floorboards to rafters. The battle against the bloodsuckers is a well-choreographed smackdown, leading me to hope that we'll see plenty more swashbuckling, creature-slaying action in episodes to come.

From there we find that Sir Malcolm's daughter is the woman who was snatched up in the beginning of the episode. He believes that the vampires have kidnapped her, and would "murder the world" to get her back, so he turns to London's most elite – and unhinged – coroner (Harry Treadway) for his expert opinion on the vampire corpses, hoping to find some clue as to their master's whereabouts. Treadway's performance here is intense and nuanced; every moment he's on the screen you can't take your eyes off of him.

There also seems to be something dangerous about this brilliantly dangerous coroner, and, if your spidey-senses were tingling about him early on, they're spot-on, as we find out at the end of the episode that he's none other than Victor Frankenstein, and he's just managed to get his science fair project- animating a creature made of cobbled-together corpses- to work. Since we're seeing Frankenstein and his monster in episode one, those with pennies to spare should bet on "Penny Dreadful" featuring the fearsome visage of Dracula as the leader of the vampires ripping their way through London.

"Penny Dreadful" has a great look, a great setting in 1800s London, and an incredibly strong cast– one with a curiously strong connection to the "James Bond" franchise. John Logan, the writer of Skyfall, created the series, Skyfall's director Sam Mendes produces, Eva Green was the Bond Girl of Casino Royale, and, let's not forget, Timothy Dalton donned Bond's tuxedo not-too-long ago. At the Q-and-A after the SXSW screening, star Josh Hartnett commented on this saying, “There's a lot of James Bond on this show. I said to someone, 'I think I'm being groomed for the next Bond movie'.”

That could be a possibility, Josh, but if “Penny Dreadful” can keep up the quality seen in the pilot episode, this project's going to keep you busy for many years to come. The only real complaint to be had about this fast-paced, imaginative horror series is that it could probably stand to present more horror without relying so heavily on gore. The sequence at the beginning of the show had some good, creepy stuff to it, but, for the most part, "Penny Dreadful" relies on stacks of blood and bits to horrify rather than being more clever about it.

Still, this impressively-crafted series promises loads of dark adventures involving some of literature's most memorable characters, so if you have an itch to go galumphing through the shadows, make sure to catch "Penny Dreadful" when it premieres May 11, 2014, on Showtime.